Europe Gets Cisco Boost

LONDON -- Encouraging economic numbers from Japan and M&A action in the tech sector gave Europe's leading bourses a lift on Monday. The Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index of leading shares was up 1.1% at 2,914.65 points in early afternoon trading. Preliminary data from Japan showed its gross domestic product had grown by a higher than expected 4.8% in the third quarter, raising hopes of a swift recovery for the economy. Adding to the positive sentiment, the European tech sector got a boost after Cisco Systems ( CSCO - news - people ) raised its takeover bid for the Norwegian videoconferencing firm Tandberg, to $3.4 billion, or 170 kroner ($30.47) per share. Cisco's previous offer, made Oct. 1, had been for 153.50 kroner ($27.51) per share, but only 9% of shareholder equity was tendered for that offer.By Monday midday in Oslo, however, around 40% of Tandberg's shareholders had agreed to tender their shares for what Cisco said was its final offer for the firm. Tandberg's shares rose by 3.9% in morning trading, to 163.8 kroner ($29.36)--remaining under the offer price--before the shares were suspended ahead of an announcement about the new offer. The European auto sector was up by 3.2%, making auto firms the strongest gainers with Peugeot ( PEUGY - ...
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Europe Lags As Maersk Founders

LONDON -- European traders had plenty of news to digest on Thursday including a stream of economic commentary from the APEC conference in Asia and a mixed earnings picture from blue-chip stocks in Europe. BT Group ( BT - news - people ) was notable for strongly beating expectations, while Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk ( AMKAF - news - people ) disappointed with news that it would post its first annual loss on record. The Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index of leading shares in Europe was down by 0.1% at 2,878 points in late morning trading in London. The auto sector got a lift from Peugeot ( PEUGY - news - people ) Citroen, which surprised investors by lifting its 2009 forecasts, citing "recent improvement in the automobile mar...
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RBS Drags On London

LONDON -- European shares managed to start November with some gains, in spite of sharp falls for equity indexes in Asia on Monday. The Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index of 50 leading shares was up 0.3% at 2,750.86 points during afternoon trading.Investors were also positioning themselves ahead of a week of major meetings between central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, along with the release of minutes from the past meetings of others and a G20 finance ministers' meeting. Market observers are cautious about the economic consequences of the eventual withdrawal of stimulus policies from governments and central banks. European stocks got a slight boost in the afternoon following news that Ford Motor ( F - news - people ) had surprised investors with a $1 billion profit in the third quarter, and raised its forecast for profit in 2011. The company added that it would reduce costs by more than expected in 2009, and was on track to achieve or exceed all of its financial targets and operational metrics for this year. The European auto sector was up by 0.4% in afternoon trading, with French carmaker Peugeot ( PEUGY - news - ...
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Peugeot Disappoints

LONDON -- French carmakerPeugeot took a beating from investors on Wednesday after the company said third-quarter sales were down 7.7% year on year--a smaller decline than in previous quarters but short of analysts' expectations.Shares of Peugeot ( PEUGY - news - people ) dropped 5.3%, after having fallen more than 7.2%, as investors took the view that any improvement in the company's sales was only being artificially achieved by French government incentives that are due to expire in the coming months. Guillaume Angue, an analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the reaction was overdone. "If investors want to kill the company dumping the shares as they have done today, that's fine. But at some point valuations will become more fair. Investors will realize that the scrapping incentives will inevitably expire, and they will price this into the shares."Philippe Houchouis, an analyst at UBS, agreed. He said the relaunch of Peugeot's C3 Picasso models would show improvement, and that the company was also using new models to get into new markets where it hadn't been before. This should make Peugeot perform better than most in 2010, the analyst said. "What we have today is a revenue disappointment and no obvious sign of the large production reramp that many have anticipated." Elsewhere in the European automotive sector, on Monday ...
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Europe Down On Deutsche Bank

LONDON -- European markets fell on Wednesday as more lackluster earnings, this time from the automotive and banking sectors, set the tone for trading. Deutsche Bank ( DB - news - people ), Germany's largest bank, which has stayed clear of government support, fell 4.3% in Frankfurt trading even as it forecast that net profits for the third quarter would triple from a year ago to 1.4 billion euros ($2.1 billion) when it releases the full figures on Oct. 29. At 1.3 billion euros ($1.9 billion), the bank's estimated underlying profits were in line with last quarter's figures, suggesting the huge surge in fixed income revenues that had driven growth was now leveling off.Europe's Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50 index of leading shares was down 0.8% in afternoon trading.Another company to disappoint was PSA Peugeot Citroen ( PEUGY - news - people ) which fell 5.4% in Paris trading after saying third-quarter sales fell 7.7%. Though European demand was boosted by some of the government incentive programs, business elsewhere remained weak, including in once-strong regions such as Russia. Shares of Spanish construction com...
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Europe Bounces Back

LONDON -- European equity markets started in the red and then moved into positive territory on Wednesday as investors took note of a series of bullish indicators: Vivendi confirmed its expansion plans with a takeover in Brazil, Germany's economy saw more positive revisions and Carlos Ghosn talked up prospects for the auto sector. The Dow Jones Eurostoxx index of Europe's 50 leading shares was up 1% at 2,812 points in afternoon trading, with London's FTSE 100 trading 1% higher, France's Cac-40 up 1% and Germany's DAX gaining 1.4%. Shares of Vivendi ( VIVEF - news - people ) took a turn lower after the French media conglomerate said it was buying at least 51% of Brazilian network operator GVT for approximately 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Vivendi's shares dropped 2.4%, or 48 euro cents (70 cents), to 19.52 euros ($28.31), during afternoon trading in Paris as analysts expressed doubt over the company's ability to extract value from the acquisition. (See "Vivendi Loses Support Over Brazilian Buy.") Vivendi has reached an agreement with GVT's controlling shareholders to launch an offer for 100% of the Brazilian company's share capital. Meanwhile in Germany, the Association of German Banks (or BDB) and Kiel-based Institute for World Economy upwardly revised their forecasts for German 2009 gross domestic product. The German government also managed to sell 5.8 billion euros ($8.5...
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RBS Downer For Europe

LONDON -- European stocks headed for a red end to the week on Friday, after Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland reported half-year losses that were deeper than expected, casting a shadow over the financial sector.Europe's leading shares were down 1% in midday trading in Europe, with banks, insurance companies and miners the biggest fallers. Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS - news - people ), 70% in the hands of the British government, reported a $1.7 billion loss for the first half of 2009, after being hit by $13.4 of impairments, the majority of which were on so-called toxic assets. The bank remains cautious about the future, warning that its results wont turn around until 2011, sending its shares down 12.9%, to 46.56 pence (78 cents) in London.Across in Germany, insurer Allianz ( AZ - news - people ) disappointed even though it reported second quarter profits that were in line with expectations. This was because profitability was driven by a rise in investment income and one-off gains on assets it had previously written down while its property and casualty business remained under pressure. Its shares fell 3.4% in...
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Car Earnings At Risk As Incentives Dry Out

LONDON -- Don't be fooled. Car sales in the U.K. rose for the first time since April 2008, thanks to the positive push given by scrapping incentives following similar initiatives elsewhere in Europe. But the impact is likely to be short-lived.Analysts at Credit Suisse said on Thursday they still preferred premium car markets, which haven't been benefited by the government incentives. "Post a cash-rich second-quarter reporting season, and amidst booming scrapping demand, we struggle to see how auto sector sentiment can improve materially from here," Credit Suisse ( CS - news - people ) said in a note to investors. Scrapping schemes, or the European version of the U.S. "cash for clunkers" program, have been introduced continent-wide, slowing losses within the auto sector in France while boosting sales in Germany. (See ''Cash For Clunkers Works In Europe.'')Thanks to the boost, carmakers like German automaker Volkswagen ( VLKAY - news - people ) managed to post an actual profit with a ...
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